The Greeks took £9 billion out of their banks in January

A woman makes a transaction at an ATM outside a National Bank of Greece branch in Athens February 25, 2015.REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Greek savers withdrew €12.7 billion (£9.2 billion) from their accounts in January dropping bank deposits to their lowest levels since 2005 amid fears over a standoff between Athens and its European partners, according to new central bank data.

The outflows underline the pressure that the Greek authorities have been under to reach a deal before the funding problem for its banks became too acute.

At the start of February the ECB withdrew a waiver that allowed Greek banks to access loans from the central bank using government bonds and government-guaranteed assets as collateral, forcing the institutions to rely on Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) provided by the Bank of Greece. However, the amount that the Bank of Greece could provide is capped and subject to review every two weeks.

The ECB has already extended the limit it imposes on Greece's ELA twice, to €65 billion from €60 billion on February 12 and again to €68 billion on February 17. These moves have only added to speculation that deposit outflows had been increasing following the Greek elections at the end of January and the removal of the waiver.

Of course, the ECB could go a long way to alleviating these concerns by pledging to stand behind the banking system for the duration of the negotiations and re-instating the waiver on Greek collateral — something that ECB president Mario Draghi claims to be considering. However, if the outflows continue the central bank should face some tough questions over how it has used its policy discretion to lean on politicians trying to strike a complex deal.